As we reach ever so closer to the halfway mark, Week 8 brought us quite a few great performances. From DeMarco Murray AGAIN rushing for 100+ yards, Big Ben putting up historical numbers, Tom Brady firing 5 touchdown passes, Drew Brees getting his groove back against the Packers, the NFC reign of the Arizona Cardinals, the thrilling Lions victory in London, and Colt McCoy coming out of nowhere to lead the Redskins over the Cowboys, week 8 kept the surprises coming.
So enough suspense. You know how the rest of this goes. I present my NFL Week 8 Awards.
Best QB: Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers)
Who would’ve guessed a blowout loss on the road at Cleveland would surge a historical performance from Ben Roethlisberger?
On Sunday, Big Ben became the first quarterback to have two career games with 500+ yards passing, carrying the Steelers to a 51-34 victory over the Colts. All six, yes, SIX, of Ben’s touchdown passes were terrific, but perhaps his best was his fourth, where he hopped over a defender to complete a 47-yard bomb to Antonio Brown.
Big Ben rarely made mistakes on Sunday, and a few of his incompletions were dropped/deflected. Roethlisberger finished the game 40/49 from passing for 522 yards, 6 TD, 0 INT, a passer rating of 150.6, and a QBR of 99.0. It’s the magnum opus of Big Ben’s career, and quite possibly the best passing I’ve seen all season thus far.
Honorable Mentions: Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Kyle Orton
Best RB: Arian Foster (Houston Texans)
Winning “Best Runningback of the Week” for the second time (he also won in week 5), Arian Foster continues to play excellent football. What else is there to say about Foster’s athleticism and field awareness, besides the fact that it led him to 151 yards, 2 touchdowns, 7.6 yards per carry, and a long of 43? Oh and to top it off he also added 22 yards receiving and a touchdown catch.
Overshadowed by DeMarco Murray’s historic season, Foster helped lead the Texans to a 30-16 victory over the Titans, continuing to keep Houston in the playoff race.
Honorable Mentions: Mark Ingram, DeMarco Murray, Matt Forte, Ronnie Hillman
Best WR: Jeremy Maclin (Philadelphia Eagles)
Despite the loss, Eagles WR Jeremy Maclin continued to prove his worth as a deadly offensive weapon Sunday against the Cardinals. Against a tough Arizona team, Maclin caught 12 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns (including a beautiful connection from Foles on his second touchdown).
It wasn’t enough, as the Eagles fell down at the wire 24-20. Nevertheless, it was a solid performance from Maclin.
Honorable Mentions: DeSean Jackson, Larry Fitzgerald, Sammy Watkins, T.Y. Hilton
Best TE: Rob Gronkowski (New England Patriots)
A two-time “Best TE” (he alsowon in week 5), Rob Gronkowski has proven he is the NFL’s best tight end when healthy. Combined with an on fire Tom Brady and terrific pass protection from the Patriots offensive line, Gronkowski was a nightmare for the Bears defense.
At the end of the day, Gronk caught 9 passes for 149 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 16.6 yards per reception. These are unreal numbers for a tight end, which isn’t a surprise for those of us who have seen Gronkowski since 2010.
Honorable Mentions: Antonio Gates, Heath Miller, Jason Wright, Tim Wright
Defensive Player of the Week: Brandon Meriweather (Washington)
(More on this game later)
Safety Brandon Meriweather had himself a heck of a game on Monday Night, highly contributing to Washington’s upset victory over the 6-2 Cowboys. With 2 sacks, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles, 1 QB hit, and 6 total tackles, it’s easy to see why Meriweather has made his case this week, giving the Cowboys offense trouble whenever he played.
Best Kicker: Justin Tucker (Baltimore Ravens)
A two-time recipient of “Best Kicker” (Week 2), Justin Tucker made it easy to see why many consider him the best kicker in the NFL. All 3 of his field goals were at least 45 yards, including a long 53-yard field goal.
Safe to say Tucker’s one of the most reliable kickers in recent history.
Biggest Upset: Washington
In a week with virtually no other upsets, the last game of week 8 fit the bill quite nicely.
No one expected Colt McCoy to have himself an impressive day (299 yards passing and a 79.8 QBR) or really Washington beating the Cowboys at all. With Tony Romo injured in the middle of the game, backup quarterback Brandon Weeden (Failed Browns Duel) didn’t perform half-bad, as he threw a nice 25-yard touchdown pass to Jason Witten late in the game.
But the Washington blitz prevented victory for the Cowboys in the 4th quarter, and ultimately, the game, as the Cowboys offensive line was beaten at the worst possible moment, and a returning Romo had very limited time to release the ball.
Combined with clueless playcalling (Cowboys run game was abandoned late in the 4th quarter and overtime) and incredible pressure from the blitz, there was no 7-game winning streak to be had for Dallas, as Washington pulled through quite nicely 20-17 in overtime.
Best Team: New England Patriots
This is supposidly Tom Brady’s way of saying “R-E-L-A-X.” As Brady concluded a terrific 14 touchdwon October, he threw 5 against the Bears defense (4 in the first half) for 354 yards a 148.4 Rate, and a 98.8 QBR
The run game stepped up as well, as Jim Gray and Shane Vereen battled for excellent field position throughout the game. The defense gave up 23 points, but only 7 of those actually mattered, and the rest came when New England was already up huge. The D deflected 6 passes, got 3 sacks, and hit Jay Cutler 4 times.
And it’s a perfect buildup to what should be another classic Manning-Brady duel.
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